4 Best Restaurants in Wellington and the Wairarapa, New Zealand

Adorned with its earthy-chic accents and wide wooden tables, Loretta makes a daily, but effortless transformation from a relaxed brunch spot to a bustling candle-lit restaurant. With their famously daily-evolving menu, brunches typically begin with smoothies and spritzers, waffles, and crumpets, each served with seasonal fruits. Lunch and dinner follow a similar seasonal theme with salads, wood-fired pizzas, savory pies, and hearty servings of seasoned meats to share.

A wood-beam roof and oiled floorboards enhance the nautical vibe at this former warehouse on the wharf, and you can get close to the water on the large harborfront deck. Inside or out, it's a lively spot, particularly on Friday nights, and as expected, the menu features a broad range of fresh seafood.

Though right at home among the seaside cottages of Lyall Bay, this plant-based haven is anything but traditional. The Botanist offers tasty and innovative takes on traditionally meat-centered meals in a seasonally evolving menu. It opens for brunch and then runs to late-night cocktail hours every day, and the menu is also complemented with appropriately botanical teas, kombuchas, and cocktails.

At this rustic barnlike café with a sunny outdoor courtyard, all the food is made from local ingredients. The cooks even smoke their own salmon and stuff their own sausages. A great start to a day of wine tasting, since the food is hearty enough to keep you going all day.